Thank you for all the comments, suggestions and information! I truly appreciate it!
I booked the round trip Boston/Dublin flights through Aer Lingus and the round trip Dublin/Barcelona flights through RyanAir.
I would have booked all through Aer Lingus, but the timing of the flights and our schedule caused us to book RyanAir. We did book the upgraded airfare.
Hopefully everything will be fine with all our flights
If you think of anything else, please let me know.
Irish person here whose home airport is Dublin Airport.
Aer Lingus use Dublin Terminal 2.
You will land from your transatlantic flight, use an airbridge to get from the plane into the terminal and then walk to passport check.
Depending on the % of American V Irish / European passengers there may be a wait at passport check as Irish / EU passengers can use the self scan and Americans have to wait to talk to an agent.
You will then exit passport check and walk to bag reclaim.
After bag reclaim you will walk out the main arrivals door.
To the left of arrivals as you walk out there is a corridor to walk to Terminal 1.
You will need to go to Terminal 1 Departures for Ryanair. The Ryan Air bag drop area is at the far end of Terminal 1 departures.
It will take about 30 minutes to walk from the Terminal 2 Arrivals area to the Ryan Air bag drop area in Terminal 1 departures.
Please make sure you check in online before your Ryanair flight as they do not have check in desks. They only have self service bag drop machines. You will need to download the Ryanair App and have your boarding pass on your phone. You can also use a home print out of the boarding pass. There are Ryanair staff helping passengers at the self service bag drop machines.
Please make sure you are aware of the Ryan Air carry on and checked bag weight allowance. They are very strict. Only those who have paid for Priority Boarding can bring 1 small roller case for the overhead bin and 1 bag which can fit under the seat. If you have not paid for Priority Boarding you can only have 1 carry on bag which must fit under the seat.
After dropping your bags you will then need to walk back to the other end of the departure area for security. You will need to scan your boarding pass to enter the security area on the self scanners.
Terminal 1 is always very busy, so you may wait up to 20 minutes after scanning your boarding pass.
You will not need to remove your shoes, unless they have metal. The agents will tell you if you need to remove shoes.
Also you may not need to remove the 3 11 baggie of liquids if you have it. I just went through Dublin airport last week and I didnt have to remove anything from my bag. The agents will tell you if you need to have the 311 baggie of liquids out.
After security is a large shopping area. You will be going through this area all the way down to Starbucks. Its about a 10 minute walk from the security area to Starbucks. The Ryanair departure gates are actually in a separate building, so you need to take the corridor to the right of Starbucks. Before you go over to the Ryanair Air Gates make sure you have bought anything you want or need in the shopping area, as there is only limited food options once you get to the Ryan Air gate area.
Ryanair do have an inflight service but they have limited items and its expensive. They are also cashless and only accept debit and credit cards. Prices are in Euros. Make sure you buy food or drinks for the flight before leaving the main shopping area.
It takes about 15 minutes to walk from Starbucks to the Ryanair Gate area.
Ryanair boarding has 2 lanes. Priority Boarding and General Boarding. People will start to line up in both before boarding is called. They board fast, as they have a very short turn around time. You will need to show your passport to the gate agent and self scan your boarding pass.
Ryanair flights do not use an airbridge. You will go down stairs and then out to the plane concourse. You will board the plane using removable stairs.